Last year, we learned that Saraya (better known as Paige in WWE) had signed a new deal with AEW that should see her remain part of the company until at least this September.
Fans were shocked when Triple H didn't pull out all the stops to bring her back into the fold given their history in NXT. Still, seeing how much Tony Khan is supposedly willing to pay talent, there's a good chance WWE was simply unwilling to match what the son of billionaire Shahid Khan was offering.
We heard at the time that Saraya's original deal had a clause in it which meant AEW could choose to keep her signed for another year; instead, the decision was made not to invoke that and she's supposedly signed a completely different one-year contract. That could mean a WWE return was always off the table.
Regardless, Saraya's last big match was at AEW Collision Grand Slam where she was defeated in a "Saraya's Rules Match" by Jamie Hayter. On October 8, she competed on an episode of AEW Dynamite in a 4-way AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator Match against Hayter, Willow Nightingale, and Nyla Rose.
Saraya has been taking a break ever since, though is expected to make an in-ring return soon. TMZ recently caught up with the former WWE Superstar and asked outright if she'd consider returning to WWE.
"I love WWE," she started. "I appreciate everybody there. They made me, they gave me my career and I'm just appreciative of that. One day, who knows, [but] I love my time in AEW."
The site then wondered whether she'd be down for facing Mercedes Moné who, as WWE's Sasha Banks, inadvertently caused the neck injury at a 2017 live event which prematurely ended Paige's wrestling career (before what proved to be something of a miraculous comeback).
"It's wrestling, it happens," Saraya teased. "But like coming back, I feel like it would be real great to face off against her."
In the same interview, she addressed her recent breakup with Falling in Reverse's lead vocalist Ronnie Radke. "It was meant to be. We’re good friends, though. It ended amicably and positively. We just drifted apart in a way; we’re just better off as friends."
"No, you know what? I was just saying to my friends I haven’t been single in a second, and I feel like it’s really important to just like be my share for a second."
"He was great, really sweet, and we were together for a long time. It’s just that we weren’t compatible anymore," Saraya added. "We’re just better off as friends. We were friends beforehand and tried to make it work as a relationship. It worked, and then it didn’t."
Hopefully, we'll see Saraya back in the ring soon.